GRATUITOUS SAX & SENSELESS VIOLINS

After a pretty average decade of the '80s where Sparks continued their on/off fling with dance music, to various levels of success, the band decided to take a break and to do a bunch of completely offbeat projects (consult Wikipedia for more details).

Fortunately Mael brothers came to their senses and returned to music after a 6 years hiatus with another landmarks of an album Gratuitous Sax And Senseless Violins! I guess that it's safe to say that a break from music really got their creativity going and even though many people might dismiss this album for being merely a record of its time, with inspiration clearly borrowed from popular synthpop acts like Pet Shop Boys and Erasure, this is easily one of the most entertaining albums of the '90s!

Just look at this hilarious album cover and tell me that you're not even a bit intrigued of listening to it? The album is literally filled with great singles like When Do I Get To Sing "My Way, (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing and Now That I Own The BBC. Luckily even the album tracks are equally as entertaining. Two tracks that always are high on my playlist are the completely hilarious I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car and the surprisingly energetic album closer Let's Go Surfing.

Sparks only released one proper new release in the '90s (not counting the remix album Plagiarism) and so they really made this one count! Gratuitous Sax And Senseless Violins is an excellent album and another career highlight for Sparks. Luckily this was only the beginning of a new stroke of genius for the duo.

***** star songs: Gratuitous Sax (0:31) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (4:37) I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car (4:20) Let's Go Surfing (5:02)

**** star songs: When I Kiss You ( I Hear Charlie Parker Playing) (5:13) Frankly, Scarlett, I Don't Give A Damn (5:03) Now That I Own The BBC (4:58) Tsui Hark (4:31) The Ghost Of Liberace (4:15) Senseless Violins (0:50)

*** star songs: Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil (5:37)